Giriraj Singh's fresh jibe at Nitish govt evokes strong

Gloves were off between Bihar allies JD(U) and BJP on Saturday in the wake of Union minister Giriraj Singh's latest attack on the Nitish Kumar government for its "inept" handling of the water-logging crisis that has plagued the state capital for a week.

Singh, who was formerly a member of the state cabinet, said, "Jab taali sardaar ko, to gaali bhi sardaar ko" (the leader gets het praise as well as the blame), when asked about the chief minister and his deputy Sushil Kumar Modi coming under attack over the inundation of several parts of the city following torrential rainfall last week.

The firebrand BJP leader, a known detractor of Kumar and Modi, had made the comments on Friday in Darbhanga, barely a couple of days after he had said in his Lok Sabha seat of Begusarai that the NDA "owed an apology to the people of Patna".

Stung by Singh's latest salvo, leaders of the JD(U) headed by Kumar came out with a barrage of attacks against Singh and his party.

"He (Giriraj Singh) is not even comparable to a speck of dust on Nitish Kumar's feet. One does not become a leader just by chanting the name of Mahadev (Lord Shiva) every now and then," JD(U) spokesman Sanjay Singh fumed.

Giriraj Singh has a habit of chanting Lord Shiva's name during his speeches.

Another party spokesman Rajiv Ranjan Prasad rattled off facts to underscore that the BJP shared a far greater share of the blame for the crisis of Patna.

"Ever since the JD(U)-BJP combine has been ruling the state, the urban development portfolio has been with our alliance partner. The Mayor of Patna belongs to the BJP and so do the MPs representing the two Lok Sabha constituencies that cover the district. All the assembly segments in the city have been BJP strongholds since the 19990s," Prasad said.

JD(U) national general secretary and chief spokesman K C Tyagi expressed his vexation in Delhi: "Giriraj Singh has become a habitual offender. He is causing more damage to our alliance than Tejashwi Yadav (leader of the opposition in state assembly, belonging to RJD) could be capable of."
RJD national vice-president and former union minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh commented: "What he (Giriraj Singh) is saying makes perfect sense."